Iceland

I decided to go to Iceland five days ahead of the trip. The price of the flight from Brussels costed 140 euro and I decided to just go, disregarding the fact that it might be a bit cold. It was the beginning of September and even though the max temperature was around 10 degrees, due to the wind and the humidity, it felt like minus 10.

Iceland's climate is actually not as cold as many people believe; the average winter temperature is 2°C, but trusts me, it feels way less.

Regardless the harsh weather, I loved every minute spent in Iceland. And I'm not the only one who considers that this country is amazing, because around 1.3 million people visited Iceland in 2015. Bear in mind that Iceland has approx. 330,000 people. 

Weird fact: due to the small number of people living in Iceland, there is an online app where you can check if a person is your relative, in order to prevent incest.

Nearly all of Iceland's heating and electricity needs are served by hydroelectric power and geothermal water reserves. 

Strange fact is that together with Faroe Iceland and Antarctica, Iceland is one of the three territories in the world where there are no mosquitos. Have no idea why.

Iceland is a very peaceful nation; the country has no standing army. Apparently, the police are responsible for only one death in 72 years. In fact, most of the policemen are not even wearing guns.

The national dish of Iceland, Hákarl, or rotten shark, is considered a delicacy. It smells like a dead body and it tastes awful.

Another weird thing is that for the most part, Icelanders do not have last names, in the traditional sense. Most Icelanders have a last name that consists of their father’s first name with the addition of -daughter or -son. For example, if my dad's name would be John, my name would be "The Daughter of John". 

We spent three nights in Reykjavik and one night close to Hofn, at Gerdi House, apparently a good place to see the aurora borealis. We weren't that lucky but if you wanna see it, you should plan your trip to Iceland during the winter.

Reykjavik is a cute town, but I wouldn't spend more than one or maybe two days there. There are plenty of good restaurants and for me the best dish was the salmon in the oven with honey, almonds and potatoes. Trust me; it is way better than the rotten shark.

The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa, filled with seawater, which is believed to have natural healing powers. The water is rich in silica and minerals and apparently works well on all sorts of eczema and skin related problems (e.g. psoriasis).

The Blue Lagoon is located around 40' drive from the capital and it was a memorable experience; I recommend buying the tickets in advance.

A tour recommended by everybody is the Golden Circle, which consists of three equally stunning locations: Þingvellir National Park, Geysir Geothermal Area and Gullfoss waterfall. None of them is further than a two hour's drive from Reykjavík, and therefore all three can be visited within a day.

Driving in Iceland is relatively stress-free, because the traffic is almost non-existent once you exit the towns. But the weather can worsen the experience. We rented a car and it was the first time I paid for an extra insurance against volcanic ash.

The country has a main road, which looks like a ring. The eastern road took us to the above mentioned accommodation (Gerdi House), close to Jokulsarlon glacier. This glacier is definitely a must see and it was on the top of my list for Iceland.

You can stop many times on the way to the glacier; there are plenty of impressive waterfalls with impossible names and the landscape itself is breath-taking.

Around 180 km southeast of Reykjavik is Reynisfjara, a black sand beach, surrounded by the hexagonal basalt columns of Reynisfjall mountain.